Akhmed Zakayev
| birth_place = Kirovskiy, Kazakh SSR, Soviet Union (now Almaty Region, Kazakhstan) | death_date = | death_place = | constituency = | party = | spouse = | religion = Islam | signature = | footnotes = }} Akhmed Halidovich Zakayev ( , ; born 26 April 1959) is a former Deputy Prime Minister and Prime Minister of the unrecognised Chechen Republic of Ichkeria (ChRI). He was also the Foreign Minister of the Ichkerian government, appointed by Aslan Maskhadov shortly after his 1997 election, and again in 2006 by Abdul Halim Sadulayev. During the First Chechen war Zakayev took part in the battles for Grozny and other military operations, as well as in high-level negotiations with the Russian side.Chechyna’s Theatre of War: Akhmed Zakayev – actor, politician and former resistance fighter – talks to Vanora Bennett , The Liberal, 2007 In 2002, Russia accused him, by then in exile, of having been involved in a series of crimes including involvement in acts of terrorism.UK actress defends Chechen rebel , BBC News, 6 December 2002Chechen accused of terror acts , BBC News, 9 June 2003 In 2003, judge Timothy Workman of Bow Street Magistrates' Court in central London rejected the extradition request due to lack of evidence and declared the accusations to be politically motivated, also saying that there was substantial risk of Zakayev being tortured if he was returned to Moscow.The Zakayev Case: Cui Bono? , Prague Watchdog, 5 August 2003Court rejects Chechen extradition , BBC News, 13 November 2003 Biography Early life Akhmed Zakayev was born in the settlement of Kirovskiy, Kirovskiy Raion (nowadays called Balpyk Bi, Koksu District), in the Kazakh SSR, Soviet Union, which is now in Almaty Region, in Kazakhstan; his family was deported by Stalin's regime along with the rest of the Chechens in 1944. He graduated from acting and choreography schools in Voronezh and Moscow and worked as an actor at a theatre in the Chechen capital Grozny, specializing in a Shakespearean roles. From 1991, he was the chairman of the Chechen Union of the Theatrical Actors. In 1994, Zakayev became a Minister of Culture in the Chechen separatist government of Dzhokhar Dudayev. Chechen wars and the interwar period After Russian forces entered Chechnya, starting the First Chechen War, Zakayev left his job and took up arms. Serving at first as a minor commander in the unit of Ruslan Gelayev, he took part in the 1995 battle of Grozny and then led the defence of the village of Goyskoye. After this the armed group under his command operated in the south-west part of Chechnya with its headquarters in the town of Urus-Martan. He was eventually promoted to the rank of Brigadier General and appointed commander of the Urus-Martan Front. In February 1996, Zakayev became commander of the entire Western Group of Defense of Ichkeria (Zakayev never was a commander of Western Group of Defense of Ichkeria!). In August 1996, his forces took part in the decisive raid on Grozny,Risky Walk in Rebel-Held Chechen Capital , The New York Times, 14 August 1996 where he personally led the attack on the city's central railway station.Moscow Gives More Evidence On Zakayev , The St. Petersburg Times, 3 December 2002 Zakayev's war service paved his way to Chechen high politics. He became the acting president Zelimkhan Yandarbiyev's advisor for the security matters and the secretary of the Chechen Security Council and represented Chechnya at the peace talks in Khasav-Yurt, which brought a peaceful end to the first armed conflict between Moscow and Grozny. After the war, Zakayev became Chechen Deputy Prime Minister (in charge of education and culture) and a special envoy of elected President of Ichkeria Aslan Maskhadov for relations with Moscow, taking part in the delegation that signed the official Chechen-Russian peace treaty at the Kremlin in 1997.Chechnya: The Turning Point That Wasn't, RFE/RL, 11 May 2007 During the interwar period, he opposed the rise of radical Islam in Chechnya and co-authored a book entitled Wahhabism - the Kremlin's remedy against national liberation movements, alleging an association between Islamist extremism and Soviet global "pro-terrorist" policy and support for dictatorships in the Muslim world. During the early phases of the Second Chechen War in 1999-2000, Zakayev commanded Maskhadov's presidential guard; he was also involved in negotiations with Russian representatives before and during the resumed hostilities. In 2000, having been wounded in a car accident during the new siege of Grozny, he left Chechnya for treatment. After this he stayed abroad and became President Maskhadov's most prominent representative in Western Europe, while Ilyas Akhmadov was the Chechen emissary to the United States. In exile Since January 2002, Zakayev and his immediate family have been residing permanently in the United Kingdom. On 18 November 2001, Zakayev, officially internationally wanted by Russia, flew from Turkey to the Sheremetyevo International Airport near Moscow to meet the Kremlin's envoy, General Viktor Kazantsev for the high-level talks since the start of the war.Moscow opens Chechnya peace talks , BBC News, 18 November 2001Russian, Chechen Rebel Envoy Hold First Talks Since War Began , Los Angeles Times, 19 November 2001Kremlin and Rebel Envoys Discuss Peace for Chechnya , The New York Times, 19 November 2001Russia opens talks with Chechens , CNN, 19 November 2001Chechnya Peace Talks Get Under Way , The St. Petersburg Times, 20 November 2001 These negotiations were fruitless because Kazantsev demanded a complete capitulation of the Chechen side, with the only acceptable topic for the Russian side being the disarmament of Chechen separatists and their re-integration into civilian life.Long negotiations with unclear results , Prague Watchdog, 16 November 2001 On 18 July 2002, Zakayev also met with the former Secretary of Security Council of Russia Ivan Rybkin in Zürich, Switzerland.Prominent Candidates for Russia's Presidency , Pravda, 12 December 2004 In October 2002, Zakayev organized the World Chechen Congress in Copenhagen, Denmark (which was attended among others by the former first speaker of the State Duma, Ruslan Khasbulatov). During the congress, Zakayev was accused by Russia of involvement in planning of the Moscow theater hostage crisis. He was detained there on 30 October 2002, under an Interpol warrant filed by Russia, which named him a suspect in the theater siege.Russian to the Core , TIME, 3 November 2002Alex Goldfarb and Marina Litvinenko. "Death of a Dissident: The Poisoning of Alexander Litvinenko and the Return of the KGB." Free Press, New York, 2007. . Zakayev denied involvement in the theater capture. He was held in Denmark for five weeks and then released due to lack of evidence, as Russia's formal extradition request did not include any evidence linking him to the siege.Russia pushes for Chechen extradition , BBC News, 2 November 2002Denmark frees top Chechen envoy , BBC News, 3 December 2002Zakayev Evidence On Shaky Ground , The St. Petersburg Times, 19 November 2002 On 7 December 2002, Zakayev returned to the UK but the British authorities arrested him briefly at London Heathrow Airport; he was released on 50,000 GBP bail, which was paid by British actress Vanessa Redgrave, his friend who had travelled with him from Denmark. He was accused by Russian authorities of 13 criminal acts Zakayev welcomed the British deportation hearings as an opportunity to put his case before an international public.Zakayev Welcomes Deportation Trial, Institute for War and Peace Reporting, 21 February 2003 All accusations were proven to be false. One accusation, cutting fingers of a suspected FSB informer Ivan Solovyov, was based on a written testimony by Zakayev's former bodyguard, Duk-Vakha Dushuyev, provided by Russian authorities; however, it appeared that Solovyev had lost his fingers much earlier to frostbite. Dushuyev himself has escaped from Russia and then in his statement claimed that he was tortured at a Russian army base with electric shocks to extort the false testimony to be used against Zakayev.Key witness in Chechen extradition case 'was tortured', The Independent, 25 July 2003 Evidence gathered by torture , BBC News, 31 July 2003Kadyrov Accused of Intimidation ,The St. Petersburg Times, 9 September 2003 In another accusation, Father Sergei, one of two Russian Orthodox Church priests allegedly murdered by Zakayev, turned out to be in fact still alive. The witness Reverend Filipp, allegedly kidnapped by Zakayev in 1996, also refuted his supposed testimony and even denounced Russian authorities for "implicating the Church in politics". Leading Russian human rights activist Sergei Kovalev told the court Zakayev would be at risk of death in Russian captivity (Kovalev spoke about two high-profile Chechen prisoners, field commanders Salman Raduyev and Turpal-Ali Atgeriyev, who died soon after being jailed in Russia, and of another, parliamentary speaker Ruslan Alikhadzhiyev, who has "disappeared" without trace after his arrest in 2000). According to Alexander Goldfarb, one of the defence's most important arguments was the 2001 meeting between Zakayev and General Kazantsev, since this meeting took place when the Chechen envoy had already been put by Russia on the international wanted list. At the time of the meeting Kremlin's spokesman on Chechnya Sergei Yastrzhembsky said on television that Russian government had no grievances against Zakayev.Zakayev saved by Mr Y , Gazeta.Ru, 2003/07/01 Therefore, on 13 November 2003, Judge Timothy Workman rejected the Russian request, deciding that it was politically motivated and that Zakayev would be at risk of torture in the case of "unjust and oppressive" extradition.Judge rejects bid to extradite Chechen rebel leader, The Guardian, 13 November 2003Russia Loses Fight Over Chechen's Extradition, The New York Times, 29 November 2008 The judge also said the crimes which involved Zakayev allegedly using armed force against combatants were not extraditable because they took place in the situation of internal armed conflict.Chechen rebel defeats Putin's extradition plea , The Telegraph, 13 November 2003Russian request to extradite Chechen exile is turned down , The Independent, 14 November 2003 Russian authorities in turn responded by accusing the court of double standards.UK accused of hypocrisy on terror , BBC News, 13 November 2003 On 29 November 2003, it was announced that Zakayev had been granted political asylum in the UK.Chechen envoy granted UK asylum , BBC News, 9 November 2003 After receiving political asylum in Britain in 2003, Zakayev made London his permanent residence, and he visited several countries (including France, Germany and Poland) without being arrested. During the September 2004 Beslan school hostage crisis, Zakayev consented to the request of the civilian negotiators and authorities of North Ossetia–Alania to fly to Russia to negotiate with the hostage takers. However, the siege ended in bloody confusion just a few hours before this could happen.Zakayev Was Asked to Assist in Negotiations at the School , The Moscow Times, 6 September 2004.New Details Emerge on Maskhadov's Bid to Mediate in Beslan, The Jamestown Foundation, 6 January 2006 Communication Breakdown , TIME, 12 September 2004 As an envoy of Maskhadov, he also met in London with the representatives of the Union of the Committees of Soldiers' Mothers of Russia in February 2005, where they agreed on a peace proposal centred around a gradual cessation of violence by rebels corresponding with the three-week ceasefire unilaterally declared by Maskhadov (who once again called for President of Russia Vladimir Putin to negotiate). These efforts were ignored by the Russian government and Maskhadov himself was soon killed in Chechnya. On 31 October 2007, Zakayev officially distanced himself from the newly resigned Chechen separatist leader Doku Umarov and the Chechen Islamist ideologist Movladi Udugov, who together had declared the creation of Caucasus Emirate in the place of abolished ChRI. In response, Zakayev called for the remnants of the separatist parliament to form the new government and salvage legitimacy.Statement by the Minister for Foreign Affairs of the Chechen Republic of Ichkeria , Chechenpress, 31 October 2007 Soon after, on 20 November 2007, Zakayev submitted his resignation from the ministerial post, but said this should not be viewed as a departure from "the fight for our independence, our freedom, and for the recognition of our state".Foreign Minister Of Chechen Separatist Government Resigns , RFE/RL, 20 November 2007 In November 2007, Zakayev announced that a meeting of parliamentaries remaining loyal to the idea of Ichkeria elected him the Prime Minister of the Chechen government in exile.The Putin-Osama Connection , Frontpage Magazine, 16 January 2008 In September 2008, Ramzan Kadyrov said he was now trying to persuade Chechens refugees and exiles to return, including Akhmed Zakayev, whom Kadyrov described as "a valuable artist who would be welcome to return to help revive Chechnya's cultural heritage."US 'provoked Russia-Georgia war' , BBC News, 10 September 2008 Zakayev and Alla Dudayeva, the widow of the first Chechen President Dzhokhar Dudayev, accused Udugov of being a paid agent provocateur for the Russia's FSB.Russia: Is North Caucasus Resistance Still Serious Threat?, RFE/RL, 1 November 2007 In London, Zakayev became friends with the Russian dissident and former FSB officer Alexander Litvinenko, later murdered by radioactive poisoning in November 2006;Litvinenko laid to rest in historic Highgate, The Telegraph, 08/12/2006 Zakayev accused the Russian President Putin of ordering the death of Litvinenko. In 2007, British police warned Zakayev that there was an increased threat to his personal security shortly before the alleged attempt to kill Berezovsky by the FSB-connected Chechen gangster Movladi Atlangeriyev (or "Mr A").Police feared assassination for two Russian dissidents , The Guardian, 22 July 2007 According to the KGB defector Oleg Gordievsky in 2008, Zakayev was placed #2 on the FSB assassination list, between Berezovsky and Litvinenko.Police probe 'new KGB poison attack' as defector Gordievsky is found unconscious in Surrey home, Daily Mail, 6 April 2008 In January 2008, Zakayev's name showed up on the purported hit list of Ramzan Kadyrov's enemies abroad to be killed, which was published on the Internet following the murder of the Chechen dissident Umar Israilov (a former bodyguard of Kadyrov who was shot dead after receiving asylum in Austria).Slain exile's family warns of death list, The Australian, 26 January 2009 Zakayev was arrested by the Polish police during his visit to Poland on 17 September 2010.Chechen separatist leader Zakayev 'arrested' in Poland , BBC News, 17 September 2010 He was released the same day. Invitation to return to Chechnya On 11 February 2009, Ramzan Kadyrov said he personally invited Zakayev to return to Chechnya if he does not want to be "used by special services and other forces against Russia". At the same time, Russia's ambassador in London, said Britain had turned into a "sanctuary" for Russia's fugitives, including Zakayev, still-wanted on terrorism charges.Kadyrov Invites Zakayev To Return to Chechnya , The Moscow Times, 11 February 2009 In an interview for Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, Zakayev claimed to rebuff the Chechen president's reported offer and said that Kadyrov was only following the Kremlin's orders;Zakayev Rebuffs Chechen President's Reported Offer , RFE/RL, 11 February 2009 he also reinstates this stance two days later in the interview for the BBC Russian Service. Закаев говорит, что не намерен возвращаться , BBC Russian Service, 10 February 2009Zakayev says that he is not intended to return , Chechenpress, 12 February 2009 Kadyrov has said that "He Zakayev is the only man on the part of Ichkeria who I would like to bring back home. I do not know what the competent bodies think, but I believe he did not commit serious crimes." Nevertheless, on 17 February, the Russian state agency RIA Novosti agency wrote that Zakayev allegedly announced his intentions to return to Chechnya and "work for a lasting peace" in the republic.Exiled Chechen Zakayev hopes to return to motherland , RIA Novosti, 17 February 2009 According to the Caucasus Emirate's mouthpiece Kavkaz Center, Zakayev, who may be granted amnesty, stated his readiness to return and "contribute to a long-term peace in the region" in an interview for Ekho Moskvy on the same day.[http://www.kavkaz.tv/eng/content/2009/02/17/10550.shtml According to Zakayev, Kadyrov can unite the Chechen society] , Kavkaz Center, 17 February 2009 Kavkaz Center - which supported Umarov - has called Zakayev "the head of a telephone government," referring to the fact that Zakayev has little influence on the insurgents on the ground.A Never-Ending War On 23 August 2009, and in a controversial move, he was reportedly dismissed as prime minister by the Chairman of the Chechen Republic of Ichkeria parliament in exile, as he "transgressed his mandate and recognized the legitimacy of the Kremlin’s puppet regime",Saralyapov Accused and Dismissed to Zakayev Waynakh.com, 23 August 2009 and shortly afterwards, he was sentenced to death by Sharia Court of the Caucasus Emirate, because he "professes democratic religion, propagates secularism, and prefers the laws established by men to the Shari'a law of Almighty and Great Allah."North Caucasus Resistance Sentences Chechen Leader To Death Radio Free Europe, 25 August 2009 See also * Chechenpress * Lopota Gorge hostage crisis References External links * Who is Akhmed Zakayev?, BBC Radio 4 * Profile: Akhmed Zakayev, Chechnya's voice on UK stage, The Guardian, September 2008 * The Zakayev Case at Amnesty International * * * Охота на Закаева (about the British extradition case) Category:1959 births Category:Living people Category:People from Almaty Region Category:Chechen field commanders Category:Candidates for President of Chechnya Category:Deputy prime ministers of Chechnya Category:Fugitives wanted by Russia Category:Moscow theater hostage crisis Category:People of the Chechen wars Category:Politicians of Ichkeria Category:Prime Ministers of Chechnya Category:Chechen guerrillas Category:Chechen nationalists Category:Chechen warlords Category:People sentenced to death in absentia